Or pool some money, buy land, and give themselves permission to park their trailers there.

“But we’ve been doing this for centuries” is not, in itself, morally justifying – countless examples abound in history of things that should be ceased immediately and permanently despite being age-old habit.

Richard, I am just talking about real estate property. When a nomadic people have been using land for centuries and perhaps millennia, what is the libertarian way to reconcile that with settlers? Regular property violation is, of course, inexcusable as such people tend to have a similar outlook viz their own property.

]]>By: Darrylhttp://www.samizdata.net/2011/02/guardian-reader/#comment-216511
Mon, 07 Feb 2011 05:23:31 +0000http://192.168.200.139/?p=13887#comment-216511My wife is an avid gypsyologist (take that, spellchecker!), has all of George Borrow’s books, and speaks several dialects of the language conversationally. She is even owner of the domain name Gypsies.com.

I asked her once why gypsies seemed so universally reviled, and her reply was immediate: almost every conflict with non-gypsies comes down to a fundamental difference of opinion as to what it means to own property. Oh sure, someone will drag religion into it from time to time, but for the most part, it gets back to property conflicts.

]]>By: Richardhttp://www.samizdata.net/2011/02/guardian-reader/#comment-216505
Sun, 06 Feb 2011 22:39:00 +0000http://192.168.200.139/?p=13887#comment-216505“Gypsies are another group that has a different view of real estate property than what is commonly accepted in the mainstream. And who is to say they’re wrong?”

What is wrong is for them to inflict their understanding of property rights on the settled community. What they do within their own communities is their business. If they want to “borrow” tools from each other, fine. They cannot, however, “borrow” tools from me without my permission.